By John Mesh
The Buhler High School girls cross country team will bring home a first-place state trophy in the Class 4A state meet in Wamego with 78 points. The Crusaders edged out Eudora 78 points to 89 for Eudora and Baldwin with 90.
Buhler High School’s Corbin Starkweather and Isabella Friesen placed 13th and 14th with timers of 20:55.41 and 21:03.85.
Ava Koster placed 19th in 21:23.01, Haylee Kinast 34th in 22:04.91, Audrey Foster 35th in 22:08.35, Allison Johnson 73rd in 24:15.74 and Khloe Blackwell 74th in 24:16.24.
In the Kansas Class 4A boys state meet, Buhler placed second with 66 points. Wamego won the state title with 52 points. McPherson was third with 119.
Buhler runners Gavin Lindahl, Henry Trumpp and Kai Mendenhall placed fifth, sixth and seventh with times of 16:51.1, 17:13.24 and 17:15.92.
Buhler’s Ryan Cherry placed 21st with a time of 18:03.2, followed by Samuel Hougham 39th at 18:39.41, Sammy Hershberger 51st at 18:57 and Andrew Morgan in 86th at 20:10.87.
In the Kansas Class 2A boys state meet at Wamego Country Club, the Hutchinson Trinity Catholic boys placed second with 66 points. Central Heights won the team state title with 34 points.
Trinity’s Jacob Lindstrom placed third overall with a time of 17:00.29.
Teammates Cameron Kiser placed 13th in 17:48.03, John Lindstrom 20th in 17:59.74, Malachiey Alvarez 28th in 18:31.81, Max Ryan 34th in 18:32.46, Abrose Pennycuff 26th in 18:39.49 and Sam Pennycuff 45th in 19:00.72.
Inman’s Tyler Martisko placed sixth with a time of 17:26.6. Teammate Riley Roots placed 30th in 18:14.92.
Trinity’s Jacob Lindstrom, Kiser and John Lindstrom and Inman’s Martisko were named to the Sports in Kansas Class 2A Boys All-State Cross Country Team.
Hutchinson Central Christian’s Harper Newcome placed second in the 1A girls state cross country meet with a time of 19 minutes, 32.33 seconds. She was named to the Sports in Kansas 1A Girls All-State Cross Country Team for placing in the Top 20.
Pretty Prairie’s Amity White placed 24th with a time of 22:41.84.Teammate Claire Miller placed 40th in 24:05.82.
Burrton’s Isaac Jones placed 43rd in the boys race with a time of 19:19.14.
Quinter won the boys team title with 29 points and South Gray won the 1A girls state title with 34 points.
In the Class 2A girls state meet at Wamego, Sterling’s Julia Kilgore placed 16th with a time of 21:38.18. Teammates Katie Inwood placed 26th in 22:03.57, Kyler Larsen 85th in 26:03.82, Israel Kuhn 86th in 26:10.22 and Lance Welty 98th in 30:03.23.
Kilgore was named to the Sports in Kansas Class 2A Girls All-State Cross Country Team.
In the Class 3A state boys meet at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Haven’s Isaiah Doherty placed 54th with a time of 17:58.66.
Halstead’s Briley Allmon placed 42nd in the Class 3A girls race with a time of 21:37.87.
Holcomb was the 3A boys team title with 58 points. Wichita Trinity Academy swept first place in the individual competitions. Caleb Tofteland won the boys individual state title with a time of 15:36.75 and Emily Hein won the girls race with a time of 18:26.9.
There was a three-way battle for first place in the 3A girls team standings. Hesston placed first with 104 points, Wichita Trinity Academy was second with 105 and Southeast of Saline was third with 109.
Garden City won the Class 6A boys team state title with 66 points. Olathe West’s Braxton Theel won the 6A boys individual title with a time of 15:20.11.
Olathe West won the 6A girls title over Washburn Rural. Both schools scored 80 points, but Olathe West’s No. 5 runner placed ahead of Washburn Rural’s No. 5 runner and was awarded first place.
Junction City’s Linden Pickler won the 6A girls individual title with a time of 18:37.27.
Way to go Harper!